Super Mario Bros.
is a platform video game developed by Nintendo in late 1985 and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game ''Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the titular character, Mario, seeks to rescue Princess Toadstool (later renamed Princess Peach) of the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, king of the Koopas. Mario's younger brother, Luigi, is playable by the second player in the game's multiplayer mode, and assumes the same plot role as Mario. For over two decades, Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling video game of all time, before being outsold by Wii Sports in 2009. Excluding Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console sales, the game has sold 40.241 million copies worldwide. It was largely responsible for the initial success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as ending the two-year slump of video game sales in the United States after the video game crash of 1983. As one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes, it has inspired many clones, sequels, and spin-offs. Its theme music by Koji Kondo is recognized worldwide, even by those who have not played the game, and has been considered a representation for video game music in general. The game was succeeded by two separate sequels that were produced for different markets: a Japanese sequel which features the same gameplay as the original and a Western sequel that was localized from an originally unrelated game titled Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. In both cases, the games are titled Super Mario Bros. 2, causing both games to be rereleased in different countries with different titles. There also have been many "alternate" versions of the game, such as All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros., which featured personalities from the Japanese radio show of the same name. The success of Super Mario Bros. has caused it to be ported to almost every one of Nintendo's major gaming consoles, as well as the NEC PC-8801 in the form of Super Mario Bros. Special. Gameplay The player takes on the role of the main protagonist of the series, Mario. The objective is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive the main antagonist Bowser's forces and save Princess Toadstool.Instruction booklet, p. 7. The playing world has coins scattered around it for Mario to collect, and special "?" bricks, which when hit from below by Mario, may contain more coins or a special item. Other "secret" (often invisible) bricks may contain more coins or rare items. If the player gains a red and yellow mushroom, Mario grows to double his size and can take one extra hit from most enemies and obstacles, in addition to being able to break bricks above him.Instruction booklet, p. 12 Players are given a certain number of lives (and may gain additional lives by picking up green and orange '1-Up' mushrooms, or collecting 100 coins), which are lost when Mario takes too much damage, falls in a pit, or runs out of time; the game ends when all lives are lost. Mario's primary attack is jumping on top of enemies, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, a Goomba will flatten and be defeated,Instruction booklet, p. 12. while a Koopa Troopa will temporarily retract into its shell, allowing Mario to use it as a projectile.Instruction booklet, p. 11. These shells may be deflected off a wall to destroy other enemies, though they can also hurt Mario.Instruction booklet, p. 19. An alternate way to damage enemies is with the Fire Flower, an item which, when picked up, changes the color of Mario's outfit (or only increases his size if a red and yellow mushroom had not been used previously) and allows him to shoot fireballs. A less common item is the Starman, which often appears from concealed or otherwise invisible blocks. This makes Mario temporarily invincible to most hazards. Instruction booklet, p. 10 The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels in each world.. In addition, there are bonus and secret areas in the game. Most secret areas contain more coins for Mario to collect, but others may contain "warp pipes" which allow Mario to advance to later worlds in the game, skipping over earlier ones. Music Koji Kondo wrote the musical score for Super Mario Bros. There are five main themes used in the original game. The tempo of the music increases when the timer reaches 99. The Minus World The Minus World is a glitch in Super Mario Bros. By passing through a solid wall near the World 1-2 exit, it is possible to travel to "World -1", also known as the "Minus World" or "World Negative One". This stage is identical to Worlds 2-2 and 7-2, but upon entering the warp pipe at the end, the player is taken back to the start of the level. The same glitch in the Japanese Famicom Disk System version is considerably different and has three levels. World " -1" is a glitched world 1-3 that is underwater and contains Bowser, Hammer Bros., and multiple copies of Princess Toadstool. World " -2" is an identical copy of World 7-3. World " -3" is a copy of 4-4, but with flying Bloopers, no Bowser, and water instead of lava. After completing these, the player returns to the title screen as if he or she had completed the game. This glitch was fixed in the Super Mario All-Stars remake and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Although the world is shown as " -1" (note the leading space) on the HUD, it is actually world 36; the game is not programmed to use 2-digit numbers, instead displaying tile #36, which is a blank space. This is because the warp zone pipes lead to world 36 before the player has scrolled far enough to activate them, so that no number appears above them. "The 'Minus World' isn't a secret bonus level, and in fact isn't really numbered "−1" at all. The level is actually numbered "36–1", but the number "36" happens to be represented by a blank tile in the game. This gives the impression that the screen reads 'World −1'." Alternate versions As one of Nintendo's most popular games, Super Mario Bros. has been re-released and remade numerous times, ranging from an arcade version released soon after the original NES release, to the game being available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console. Ports Super Mario Bros. was ported many times in the years following its original release on the NES. A side-scrolling platform game entitled Super Mario Bros. was released for the Game & Watch range of handheld LCD game systems by Nintendo. The Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. is an entirely new game, featuring none of the stages from the NES original. In Japan, Super Mario Bros. was released for the Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo's proprietary floppy disk drive for the Famicom. This version also had multiple Minus World levels. It was also released for the NES with other games on the same cartridge (Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet). ''Vs. Super Mario Bros. One alternate version, ''Vs. Super Mario Bros. (also known in promotional materials as Vs. Mario's Adventure), is nearly a separate game in its own right. This game, one of several games made for Nintendo's NES-based arcade cabinet, the Nintendo Vs. Unisystem (and its variant, the Nintendo Vs. Dualsystem), is based on Super Mario Bros., and has identical gameplay. The stages, however, are different; the early stages are subtly different, with small differences like the omission of 1-up mushrooms or other hidden items, narrower platforms and more dangerous enemies, but later stages are changed entirely. These changes have a net effect of making Vs. Super Mario Bros. much more difficult than the original Super Mario Bros. Many of these later, changed stages reappeared in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. As with many older arcade games, it is unclear exactly when this game was released; while the arcade boards themselves are stamped "1985",passport (December 29, 2001). Vs. Super Mario Bros.. Everything2. URL accessed 2005-11-21. the Killer List of Video Games, the title screen, and the MAME game listing list the game as having been released in 1986. ''All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. ''All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. is a very rare version of Super Mario Bros. with graphics based upon the popular Japanese radio show All Night Nippon. The game, which was only released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System, was a special promotional version that was given away by the show in 1986. The creators altered the sprites of the enemies, mushroom retainers, and other characters to look like famous Japanese music idols, recording artists, and DJs as well as other people related to All-Night Nippon. They also used the same slightly upgraded graphics that Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels used. It was published by Fuji TV, the same company that published the game Doki Doki Panic (which was later modified into the Super Mario Bros. 2 that was released outside Japan). Instead of being a straight port from Super Mario Bros. with graphical changes, All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. combined variations of levels from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and Super Mario Bros. ''Super Mario Bros. Special'' Super Mario Bros. Special was a game released only in Japan by Hudson Soft for the NEC PC-8801 and Sharp X1 computers in 1986. Although it has similar gameplay and graphics, the game has new level layouts and scrolls in a different manner than the original game (differing based on the computer). In addition, many new enemies are included, including enemies from Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. On the NEC version, the game goes at a greater speed, meaning that the timer drains more swiftly. The Sharp X1 version has a speed that is much closer to the original game. Neither version features Luigi or a two-player mode. ''Super Mario All-Stars'' In 1993, Nintendo released an enhanced SNES compilation titled Super Mario All-Stars. It includes all of the Super Mario Bros. games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom. The version of Super Mario Bros. included in the compilation has improved graphics and sound to match the SNES's 16-bit gameplay capabilities, as well as minor alterations in some collision mechanics. Another new feature introduced in this game is the ability for the second player to switch to Luigi after the end of the stage, unlike in the original Super Mario Bros. where the second player could only play after Mario died. The new version also included a save game feature. Several glitches from the original NES release were also fixed. ''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe'' Super Mario Bros. was released on the Game Boy Color in 1999 under the title Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. It featured an overworld level map, simultaneous multiplayer, a Challenge mode (in which the player had to find hidden objects and achieve a certain score in addition to normally completing the level) and 8 additional worlds based on the main worlds of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (which was released on Super Mario All-Stars as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels) as an unlockable extra, under the name "For Super Players". It also was compatible with the Game Boy Printer. The game did not, however, feature any upgraded visuals (aside from some graphics such as water and lava now being animated rather than static), and, since the screen resolution of the Game Boy Color was smaller than the NES, the view distance of the player is reduced. To compensate, players can press up and down to see above and below the player. Pressing select during the game also places the player in the middle or off to the left of the screen so that player can see well. Players can alternate between Mario and Luigi by pressing select on the map screen, and Luigi's outfit was changed from the original white overalls and green shirt to green overalls and brown shirt to better match Mario and the more common color palette. Fire Luigi, originally identical to Fire Mario, took on normal Luigi’s original colors to fit with his Fire colors in later games. The game was extremely well-received by both critics and fans. GameSpot gave the game a 9.9, hailing it as the "killer app" for the Game Boy Color (it was also the highest rated game in the series). IGN went further, giving it a perfect 10 out of 10. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe also has an aggregate rating of 92% on GameRankings. It was partially due to the high quality of the port, especially with inclusion of The Lost Levels. In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port of Super Mario Bros. (part of the Classic NES Series) was released, which had none of the extras or unlockables available in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Of that version, IGN noted that the version did not "offer nearly as much as what was already given on the Game Boy Color" and gave it an 8.0 out of 10. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe did well amongst consumers, selling over 2.8 million copies in the United States alone. Reception and legacy Super Mario Bros. popularized the side scrolling genre of video games and led to many sequels in the series that built upon the same basic premise. Altogether, the game has sold 40.24 million copies, making it the best-selling video game in the Mario series and the second best-selling game in the world. Almost all of the game's aspects have been praised at one time or another, from its large cast of characters to a diverse set of levels. One of the most-praised aspects of the game is the precise controls. The player is able to control how high and far Mario or Luigi jumps, and how fast he can run. Nintendo Power listed it as the fourth best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, describing it as the game that started the modern era of video games as well as "Shigeru Miyamoto's masterpiece". The game ranked first on Electronic Gaming Monthly's "greatest 200 games of their time" list and was named in IGN's top 100 games of all time list twice (in 2005 and 2007). ScrewAttack declared it the second-best Mario game of all time.Gametrailers.com - ScrewAttack - Top Ten Mario Games In 2009, Game Informer put Super Mario Bros. in 2nd place on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", behind The Legend of Zelda, saying that it "Remains a monument to brilliant design and fun gameplay". Super Mario Bros. has spawned many sequels: Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (named Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan), Super Mario Bros. 2 (released in Japan as Super Mario USA), Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World (which had the working title of Super Mario Bros. 4) for the Super NES, Super Mario 64 (for Nintendo 64), Super Mario Sunshine (for GameCube), New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, and Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii. The game's sequels also inspired products in various media, such as an American television series, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, from 1989, and a live-action film, Super Mario Bros., released in 1993. Rereleases In early 2004, Nintendo re-released the game on the Game Boy Advance in Japan as part of their Famicom Minis collection and in the U.S. as part of the Classic NES Series. Unlike previous re-releases, these versions contain no graphical updates and all of the original glitches remain. Super Mario Bros. was one of the best-selling of these rereleases; according to the NPD Group (which tracks game sales in North America), this re-released version of Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling Game Boy Advance game in June 2004 to December 2004. In 2005, Nintendo released this game again for the GBA as part of its 20th Anniversary with a special edition, which sold approximately 876,000 units. Super Mario Bros. is also one of the 19 NES games included in the Nintendo GameCube game Animal Crossing. The only known way to unlock Super Mario Bros. is by use of a game modification device, like the Game Shark or Action Replay. The game is fully emulated (in fact, it is the original ROM), so it includes every glitch from the NES including the Minus World glitch. Super Mario Bros. was released on December 2, 2006 in Japan, December 25, 2006 in North America and January 5, 2007 in PAL regions for Wii's Virtual Console. Like all Nintendo Entertainment System games previously available in their respective regions, Super Mario Bros. costs 500 Wii points. As it is a copy of the original game, all glitches, including the Minus World, remain in the game. Super Mario Bros. is also one of the trial games available in the "Masterpieces" section in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Computer version Windows Released August 1993 System requirements *Windows 3.0/3.1/95/98/NT *Intel 5 MHz processor or higher *320 KB RAM *720 KB or 1.44 MB floppy drive *5 MB of disk space Macintosh Released August 1993 System requirements *Motorola 16MHz or higher *320 KB RAM (720KB RAM recommended) *System Software 2.0 or higher *256 Color, 512x384 Display or Better *400 KB, 800 KB, or 1.44 MB floppy drive In other media The stage "Mushroomy Kingdom" in the 2008 game Super Smash Bros. Brawl portrays two levels of the original game (the one on which the players fight is chosen at random): World 1-1, portrayed as a desert wasteland, and the subsurface World 1-2. References * External links *[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/dmg/ahyj/index.html Official Nintendo Japan Super Mario Bros. Deluxe site] *'Bizarro World' - Story and video featuring Andrew Gardikis, Super Mario Bros. speed run world champion, by The Boston Globe Magazine, August 2007 Category:1985 video games Category:Arcade games Category:Famicom Disk System games Category:Game & Watch games Category:Game Boy Advance games Category:History of video games Category:Mario platform games Category:Mario Universe games Category:NEC PC-8801 games Category:Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development games Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Nintendo Vs. Series games Category:PlayChoice-10 games Category:Virtual Console games Category:Side-scrolling video games